The Asia Business Council,
in a recent briefing, showed Asia as the emerging center of
innovation. The number of patent applications and scientific
papers generated by Asian countries, such as China, India,
Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, continues to grow. Taken
together, these countries account for the largest global share
of patents in electrical engineering.

Particularly promising industries in Asia include electronics
and information technologies, pharmaceuticals and health
biotechnology; environmental technologies; and nanotechnology.
China is concentrating on food chemistry, digital communications,
and environmental and agricultural technologies. Japan is
targeting environmental technologies as well as optics.
India is carving its niche in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology
and medical instruments, while Singapore’s patents focus
on ICT and nanotechnology. Korea and Taiwan are focusing
on digital consumer products, and on computer sciences and
electronic engineering, respectively.

These industries spring from the four sciences that futurist
Dr. James Canton predicts will be the wealth-creating pillars
of a new global economy: nanotechnology, information technology,
neurotechnology and biotechnology (“nano-IT-bio-neuro”).

We took this emerging trend into consideration when the
Congressional Commission on Science and Technology (Comste),
which I chair, constituted its technical panels two years
ago. Comste’s panels reflect its priorities: energy and
environment; IT and IT-enabled industries; electronics and
semiconductor industries; health sciences; agriculture and
food; and science, mathematics and engineering education.

Since its constitution, Comste has been reviewing the state
of S&T and engineering education in the country, and
has advocated and pushed for policies that encourage competitiveness
in key industries.

The lessons from Typhoon Pepeng and Ondoy gave valuable
lessons on disaster preparedness, hence Comste is prioritizing
disaster-prevention and -mitigation programs, including
weather forecasting.

And as the 15th Congress begins, Comste will concentrate
on leapfrogging strategies to help catapult the Philippines
among the innovative countries in Asia.

SEARCA Biotechnology Information CenterUPLB Campus 4031, Los Baños, Laguna, PHILIPPINES
Telephone +6349 536 2290 ext. 406 / 169 / 135
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established in 2000 to address the needs of the region for a highly
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Southeast Asian region accessible to various stakeholders.